Boat anchor



H. C. AUSTIN Feb. 28, 1967 BOAT ANCHOR Filed July 12, 1965 INVENTORHORACE C. AUSTIN ATTORNEYS United States Patent Ofitice 3,306,248 BOATANCHOR Horace C. Austin, 1342 Fla-Mango Road, West Palm Beach, Fla.33611 Filed July 12, 1965, Ser. No. 471,031 2 Claims. (Cl. 114-208) Thisinvention relates to a boat anchor provided with an air chamber fororienting and pointing the pointed flukes of the anchor into the earthfor anchoring the boat.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved anchor for boats,said anchor having one or more pointed flukes with a shank pivotallyattached thereto and an air chamber rigidly attached to the other endsof said flukes to give 'buoyance thereto and orient the pointed endsthereof into the earth for anchoring the boat.

Another object of this invention is to provide a boat anchor having apair of flukes, each of which is of T- shaped cross section tapered to apoint at one end, the other ends of said flukes being attached to a sideof a cylindrical air chamber for giving these ends of the flukesbuoyance and orienting the pointed ends of the flukes into the earth foranchoring the boat attached to the anchor.

Other and further objects of this invention will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art to which it relates from the following specification,claims and drawing in which, briefly:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an anchor constructed according to thisinvention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of the anchor of this invention showing the shankpositioned between the flukes parallel thereto.

'Referring to the drawing in detail, reference numeral designates an airchamber of cylindrical shape having the ends thereof sealed by suitableend members that are welded, brazed or soldered, or similarly connectedor cemented thereto. The chamber is sealed so that air trapped thereincannot be displaced by water when the anchor is in use and thus thechamber functions to give buoyance to the ends of the flukes 11 and 12attached thereto. The anchor is provided with flukes 11 .and 12, each ofwhich have one end thereof attached by welding, brazing or suitablecementing to the side of the air chamber 10. The other ends of theflukes 11 and 12 are pointed and the air chamber orients the anchor withthese ends pointed into the earth when the anchor is in use.

The flukes 1-1 and 1 2 are of T-shaped cross section and they areattached to the air chamber 10 so that the central ribs 11a and 12athereof lie substantially in the same plane. The members 111) and 12b ofthe flukes 11 and 12, respectively, are spaced slightly from each otherso that a space for the shank 13 is provided therebetween. The stems 11aand 12a of the T-shaped fi-ukes 1-1 and 12, respectively, are attachedalong corresponding ends thereof to the air chamber 10 in a directionsubstantially parallel to the length axis of the chamber, whereas, thecorresponding ends of the tops 11b and 12b of the T-shaped flukes areattached to the chamber 10 across this axis. This mode of attaching thefluke members 11a, 11b, 12a and 12b to the chamber 10 results in astrong anchor structure.

The stock 14 comprises a rod that passes through the flukes 11 and 12and it is brazed or welded, or otherwise attached thereto. While thestock 14 is shown as attached to fluke members 11a and 12a in gaps orcuts formed through these members, it may 'be attached to these membersalong one side thereof by welding or 3,306,248 Patented Feb. 28, 1967brazing thereto, and the holes formed in the fluke members 11b and 12bmay be slightly displaced from center lines of these members, ifdesired. A suitable hole is formed in one end of the shank 13 forreceiving the stock 14 whereby the shank is attached to the anchorstructure. The other end of the shank 13 is provided with a hole forreceiving the end link of the anchor chain 15.

Plates 17 and 18 are attached to the fluke members 11b and 12b,respectively, to one side of the stock 14 and adjacent thereto. Theseplates 17 and 18 are provided with holes 17a17b and Isa-18b,respectively. The holes 17a and 18a receive pin 19 which may bepositioned in corresponding aligned holes of the plates 17 and 18, and asimilar pin is positioned in selected aligned holes 17b and 18b. Thus,by placing these pins in different aligned holes in plates 17 and 18,the angle of the shank 13 with respect to the flukes of the anchor maybe adjusted for different earth conditions on the bottom of the river,lake or sea in which the boat is to be anchored.

The volume of the air chamber 10 depends upon the weight of the anchor.In actual use I have found that an anchor for use with small boats inwhich case the anchor weighs about one and one-half pounds, a chamberhaving a diameter of one and one-half inches, and a length of fourinches is satisfactory. These values and dimensions are given only byway of example and it is not intended that this invention be limitedthereto as other dimensions may be used in larger anchors.

While I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention it will beunderstood that the invention is capable of variation and modificationfrom the form shown so that its scope should be limited only by thescope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. In a boat anchor the combination of a pair of flukes, each of saidflukes comprising two elongated triangular plates, one of the long sidesof one of said triangular plates being attached substantially to thecenter of the other so that the fluke formed thereby is of T-shapedcross section, each of said flukes being tapered. substantially to apoint at the earth-engaging end thereof, an elongated cylindricalmember, means attaching the other ends of said fi-ukes to said elongatedcylindrical member, the central ribs of the T-shaped cross sectionsbeing attached to said elongated cylindrical member so that they are inalignment with each other and substantially parallel to the axis of saidelongated cylindrical member, the tops of the T-shaped cross sections ofsaid flukes being attached to mid portions of said cylindrical memberadjacent to each other between said ribs and substantially at rightangles to said axis, said top of said T-shaped flukes having a widthsubstantially equal to the diameter of said cylindrical member, a shank,means pivotally attaching said shank to said flukes, and means limitingpivotal movement of said shank with respect to said flukes, saidcylindrical member comprising a sealed hollow chamber providing buoyancyto said other ends of said flukes to orient the pointed ends thereofdownward and facilitate penetration of the earth thereby.

2. In a boat anchor the combination of a pair of flukes, said flukeseach being of T-shaped cross section tapering substantially to a pointat one of the ends thereof which form the earth-engaging ends, anelongated cylindrical member, means rigidly attaching the wide ends ofsaid tapered T-shaped flukes to said cylindrical member back to back sothat the tops of said T-shaped flukes are adjacent to each other andextend substantially across the mid portions of said cylindrical memberand the stems of said T-shaped flukes are aligned with the axis of saidcylindrical member and extend substantially over the length of saidcylindrical member, a shaft attached to said 3,306,248 3 4 flukesextending therebetween adjacent to said cylindrical References Cited bythe Examiner member, a shank pivoted on said shaft, plates attached tothe tops of said T-shaped il'ukes adjacent said shaft and UNITED STATESPATENTS on opposite sides of said shank, said plates having means216961186 12/1954 Wilson 114 208 limiting the pivotal motion of saidfiukes with respect to 5 2,789,526 4/1957 GQnner 114 -208 said shank,said cylindrical member comprising a sealed 2,981,219 4/1961 Wmslow 114-208 hollovv chamber providing buoyancy to said other ends MILTONBUCHLER, Primary Examiner. of said flukes to orient the pointed endsthereof downward and facilitate penetration of the earth thereby. BLIX,AS51510"? Examine!-

1. IN A BOAT ANCHOR THE COMBINATION OF A PAIR OF FLUKES, EACH OF SAIDFLUKES COMPRISING TWO ELONGATED TRIANGULAR PLATES, ONE OF THE LONG SIDESOF ONE OF SAID TRIANGULAR PLATES BEING ATTACHED SUBSTANTIALLY TO THECENTER OF THE OTHER SO THAT THE FLUKE FORMED THEREBY IS OF T-SHAPEDCROSS SECTION, EACH OF SAID FLUKES BEING TAPERED SUBSTANTIALLY TO APOINT AT THE EARTH-ENGAGING END THEREOF, AN ELONGATED CYLINDRICALMEMBER, MEANS ATTACHING THE OTHER ENDS OF SAID FLUKES TO SAID ELONGATEDCYLINDRICAL MEMBER, THE CENTRAL RIBS OF THE T-SHAPED CROSS SECTIONSBEING ATTACHED TO SAID ELONGATED CYLINDRICAL MEMBER SO THAT THEY ARE INALIGNMENT WITH EACH OTHER AND SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO THE AXIS OF SAIDELONGATED CYLINDRICAL MEMBER, THE TOPS OF THE T-SHAPED CROSS SECTIONS OFSAID FLUKES BEING ATTACHED TO MID PORTIONS OF SAID CYLINDRICAL MEMBERADJACENT TO EACH OTHER BETWEEN SAID RIBS AND SUBSTANTIALLY AT RIGHTANGLES TO SAID AXIS, SAID TOP OF SAID T-SHAPED